Flying Southwest with an infant

[PigletsMommy]

Myself, DH, DM & DD are going to Detroit next month for a family wedding. We have decided to fly because DD hates being in the car for more than 1 hr.

Normally when I go for a long weekend I just take my carry on & we fly Northwest but this is the first flight with DD. I know we are going to need to check some baggage so we have decided to fly Southwest to save some $$

I have no idea about how to fly with an infant, let alone an airline that doesn't assign seats. Does anyone have any suggestions??

We are thinking about taking her stroller 1. for going thru the airport & 2. so she has somewhere to nap at the wedding reception.

I also am not sure about taking her car seat. What king of car seats do you get when you add them to your car rental??

Last time I flew to Orlando I saw a woman who had a child in a carseat that was strapped to some sort of contraption on wheels. Is this a better option?

DD will be 11 & 1/2 months old... how do I get her thru security since she wont have a boarding pass???

Any suggestions or helpful hints?

[disneyfaninaz]

The first thing you need to do is decide if she is going to travel as a lap child or have her own seat. At that age, I would recommend getting her own seat. She will need her car seat. The car seat must be FAA approved.

If you decide that she is going to sit on your lap the entire time, you will need to bring her birth certificate with you when you check in at the airport. The agent will give you a boarding pass for her at that time in order to go through security.

You can go to the SWA website, it will tell you everything you need to know about travling with an infant.

You can take your stroller all the way to the gate and the gate agents will gate check it and put it in the cargo hold of the plane. It will then be removed and waiting for you on the jetway at your arrival.

With SWA, you have the option of getting boarding passes early for $10 a person, checking in at exactly 24 hours before your flight or waiting until you get to the airport and board between the "A' Boarding passes and the "B' Boarding passes. Don't worry, you will be able to sit with your child. Again, the SWA website has a tutorial on their boarding process.

Hope that helps.

[nemofans]

We have & will again fly SWA w/an infant. We buy a seat for him & use a CARES harness which is FAA approved. We prefer not to carry along a car seat, but if you need one for Detroit then take one. If you buy a seat, then you have to take a car seat & make sure it will fit on the airplane seats. Not all do. We bring our own stroller thru security & gate check it. Seating is wonderful w/SWA. If you don't get A boarding, then you get to board betw A & B w/an infant. They will not separate you from your baby.